When a person wears a proper fitting shoe, there is typically a minimal gap between an inner surface of the shoe and the surface of the person's foot inserted in the shoe. If there is no ventilation inside the shoe and the ambient temperature is high, for example, during hot summer weather or in an office environment, or when the person performs physical activities, for example, working, walking, running, exercising, etc., the air around the person's foot in the shoe becomes warm and quickly fills with water vapor which creates an uncomfortable environment around the person's foot inside the shoe. Closed shoes, for example, closed sneakers, high boots, etc., have minimal air exchange or ventilation at the front end of the shoes. Therefore, there is a need for removal of air from the shoe, especially from the front end and other parts of the shoe to improve comfort, hygiene, and foot adhesion inside the shoe.
Conventional methods for ventilating shoes typically provide ventilation holes on an outer surface of the shoe, or an arrangement of pistons to eject air out of the shoe. However, these methods actively function only when a person walks while wearing the shoe. Moreover, adding ventilation holes on the outer surface of the shoe changes the shoe design, which may not be aesthetically appealing, Furthermore, ventilating shoes by using pistons requires incorporation of bulky and ineffective additional parts into the shoe design.
Some conventional methods employ battery powered electric ventilation systems to ventilate the shoe. However, in such systems, conventional batteries are firmly fixed in the shoe, cannot be positioned at any location inside or outside the shoe, and are not easily replaceable. Moreover, conventional batteries in these battery powered electric ventilation systems are bulky and occupy more space in the shoe which may be obstructive to a user wearing the shoe and makes it difficult for the user to walk around while wearing the shoe. Furthermore, conventional batteries in these battery powered electric ventilation systems are rigid and do not conform to varying contours of the shoe, which may damage the batteries or injure the user wearing the shoe during use of the shoe.
Hence, there is a long felt need for a method and an apparatus for ventilating footwear, for example, shoes, at different times, for example, during rest, during movement, during any physical activity, during high temperature situations, while the user is in a warm environment, or at selected times. Furthermore, there is a need for flexible batteries that are compact, occupy less space in the footwear, flexibly conform to varying contours of the footwear, can be easily accommodated at any location inside or outside the footwear, and can be easily replaced, without obstructing or injuring a user wearing the footwear and without causing damage to the batteries.